4 posts categorized "NewsTrust"

October 09, 2009

The topic of U.S. health care reform has been top of mind for many. If you live in America, you have a stake in it, whether you're insured or not.

That's why the information we get from the media is so important. If it is well researched, accurately sourced and fair, the news will help us make better informed decisions because it helps us figure out what is really going on. If it is biased, poorly sourced and lacking in solid facts or statistics, it could misguide those of us who read or view it.

This week, NewsTrust and the Huffington Post's Eyes & Ears team have joined forces in a health care news hunt. The communities have found some of the best, most accurate and enlightening news and opinion pieces currently on the Web. Together, they've created an impressive collection which anyone can read and contribute to.

February 11, 2009

NewsTrust has wrapped uplast week's education news hunt, and I've put together some preliminary thoughts about what I learned from co-hosting it. I'll soon post additional links and quotations from other NewsTrust editors to add more context, and will include relevant stats from the hunt.

UPDATE (February 12, 2009):--- Complete news hunt results and analysis, including the top-rated stories, are located here: "Top Stories on Education" by Derek Hawkins, with Fabrice Florin and Kaizar Campwala.--- I co-hosted this news hunt with fellow NewsTrust editor Dale Penn, whose most insightful take-away from the week is located on the NT blog: "From our host, Dale Penn".

-----------After
participating in the news hunt, I feel much more informed about current issues and major
opinions in education. The best articles captured more subtle aspects
about how truly complex a school, classroom or a student's life can be;
these pieces went beyond a quick, simple, pro-and-con issue treatment.

Regarding which stories I chose to review, I realized I'm often drawn to local stories because I want real examples to learn
from; theory only goes so far in the classroom. Local stories often
looked at specifics of problems. As reviewers—and as educators,
parents, teachers and students—we're interested in case studies, as
successful ones could be models for use in other—even our own—venues. Many national opinion pieces primarily discussed
national policy, and they are sometimes confirming or enlightening, but are
often not practical or useful in solving specific educational problems.

In
rating quality stories, a well-written, solidly sourced and in-depth
piece about a local issue trumps a more general opinion piece about
national policy. During the news hunt, I read many echo pieces in
various sources which nearly repeated other opinions or editorials.
While important in reaching different markets, they didn't always add
much new to the debate, or inform.

Most opinion pieces were about national (not local) education policy, and this may be a trend for awhile. As education issues
come into sharp national focus through debate about the new stimulus package, education policy makers
will continue to make themselves heard. As school budgets get cut
during this recession, communities will clamor to save threatened
electives and programs. After seeing many educational opportunities
slip away during the past eight years (the limitations of NCLB, being
one example), there is a cogent urgency now for communities to own
education again. If citizens want better schools—and a better world society—then
everyone has to stay vigilant in speaking up and making sure that happens. With President Obama and Secretary of Education
Duncan, the tone has changed and there seems to be room again for many
voices. This could inform a higher level of debate going forward. Time
will tell if this is fully reflected in media coverage.

Even
though education is often not breaking news, this topic is incredibly
newsworthy. Thoughtful, thorough and consistent education reporting—particularly on state and local levels—could make local communities
more aware of and interested in what is happening in their neighborhood
schools. It would be a great public service if media outlets invested
more in covering education. With the current newspaper crisis, however,
many outlets have their very survival driving editorial choices; how
education (and all topics, really) is covered depends more heavily now
on a variety of external market forces and not necessarily journalistic
principles.

More information to be added soon. Information added—see above update.

February 05, 2009

This week, I am co-hosting an education news hunt over at NewsTrust, a site which rates quality journalism. Through February 8th, readers and reviewers at NewsTrust will submit as many articles on education as they can find for the entire community to review and comment on.

Question: So, how could a hunt for news actually improve education?

Answer: Increase knowledge on a topic = increased power to affect change.

Throughout the news hunt week, people who participate read many articles and greatly expand their knowledge about education. By submitting and reviewing the articles, reviewers become more discerning about which articles are best, and which information is most relevant. Participants read others' reviews, also, taking in other community member observations and opinions, adding another dimension to their own understanding of the topic.

By the end of the week, reviewers have immersed themselves in a week-long, community-led exploration into the current state of education worldwide. Because so many people participate, the collective mind critiquing these articles covers vast ground, learns more and becomes "smarter" about the topic; thus, so do participants.

If we become more knowledgeable about the complex issues behind education, we become empowered to help our local schools. Fortified with newly found facts and viewpoints on education, news hunt participants could participate more in their local communities. NewsTrust provides a continually refreshed resource of the best, most current education articles as a reference.

The state of education affects all members of society. With a landmark education stimulus package in the U.S. on the cusp of being implemented, now is an exciting time to focus on crucial issues which certainly will determine the quality of our future.

Also, on the right-hand side of this blog, I feature a NewsTrust widget. If you're a "news hound" (Thanks, Dale!) who would like to feature links to quality journalism on your blog, click here to get this feature.

October 15, 2008

Over the past week, I've received quite an education on the connection between poverty and lack of health insurance. I was co-host of a “news hunt” at NewsTrust, a vibrant media literacy project online. The NT community looked for the best journalism on health care, and read and reviewed a wide range of health care stories. Those that stayed with me most explained how the lives of the working poor have been destroyed when they lose health insurance.

Solving poverty is a complex issue, but one within our control if we act widely and directly on it. One solution to poverty in the United States is to provide universal health coverage. The working poor, who amount to roughly 80% of the 45 million uninsured in the U.S., will benefit most from this.

During the news hunt, I read and reviewed 36 health care stories (including a podcast and a documentary) from many sources. Based on what I've read, I know now that there is a consistent, tragic pattern that occurs when the working poor lose health insurance. The basic steps are:

1. working adult gets sick and loses job2. after losing job, they lose their health insurance3. they can no longer afford medications, so they get sicker4. since they have no insurance, they receive either no care at all or substandard health care which they have to pay for themselves5. the bills pile up6. still sick, they cannot work, so they lose their home and belongings because any money they have goes to basic subsistence and paying medical bills7. very few rebound, and many die

Providing health insurance, available no matter their employment status, would solve this horrible situation. It would help the working poor in multiple ways. It would give them access to any needed medical care for themselves and their dependents. They would stay healthy and be able to look for and get additional work. If sick workers could no longer work, they would still get care, which is the right and compassionate thing to provide.

When people are healthy, they can still contribute meaningfully to their communities; when many in one community are unemployed and sick, their community suffers along with them. With health insurance, adults can take care of the children who depend on them; without it, their children may lose, either temporarily or permanently, their mother's or father's care.

During this economic downturn, prospects for the working poor will absolutely become more dire. Adding guaranteed, universal health insurance to the poverty equation would directly improve the quality of their lives. To read some of the top rated stories from NewsTrust's health care news hunt and decide on this issue for yourself, click here.

THANK YOU to those who left comments here that they too would join Blog Action Day:

Hello and welcome!

My name is Kristin Gorski. I recently earned my doctorate (EdD) in instructional technology and media. My research focuses on technology and literacies, writing in digital spaces, and how media literacy may support academic literacy (among other incredibly interesting topics). On occasion, I’m also a freelance writer and editor. “Write now is good.” is my personal blog about writing, creativity and inspiration (with healthy doses of technology in relevant places). I started it in blogging's heyday (2006) and still post to it, time permitting. If you'd like to collaborate on a project, have writing/technology/creativity info to share, or want to say, "Hi," contact me at kgwritenow (at) yahoo dot com.
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